Starwood Extends Mobile Bookings and Inspiration to Google Glass

Skift Take

The Glass app launch is not meaningful to most of Starwood’s customers today, but the brand is betting on the growth of wearable tech and the value it can bring to travelers’ booking and hotel experience.

Starwood says its goal is to explore what kinds of features are possible on Glass and other wearable tech, but at least several basic functionalities are sure to be available at launch.

These include voice search for Starwood’s more than 1,150 hotels, turn-by-turn directions to any hotel, and photos of hotel properties and surrounding areas.

Users can not currently book directly via Google Glass. After searching for hotels and selecting a property from a list of hotels and room rates, users can either connect directly to an associate over the phone or have the ready-to-book link sent to their email.

SPG members will be also able to access upcoming stay details and their Starpoints balance.

Chris Holdren, Senior Vice President of SPG & Digital, says this is just the beginning of Starwood’s experiments with wearable tech.

“The team has been very focused on wearables,” explains Holdren. “For us, it’s clear to see the trend of the past decade. Computer power is getting smaller and more compact.”

Holdren says smart watches are another example of wearables that the team is looking at, but would not speculate on additional features that would become available on this type of technology.

“We do truly believe there is going to be a new wave of wearables that are going to improve our guests’ and associates’ experience,” he says.